Visions in a Seer Stone

Visions in a Seer Stone
Author: William L. Davis
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2020-04-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1469655675

In this interdisciplinary work, William L. Davis examines Joseph Smith's 1829 creation of the Book of Mormon, the foundational text of the Latter Day Saint movement. Positioning the text in the history of early American oratorical techniques, sermon culture, educational practices, and the passion for self-improvement, Davis elucidates both the fascinating cultural context for the creation of the Book of Mormon and the central role of oral culture in early nineteenth-century America. Drawing on performance studies, religious studies, literary culture, and the history of early American education, Davis analyzes Smith's process of oral composition. How did he produce a history spanning a period of 1,000 years, filled with hundreds of distinct characters and episodes, all cohesively tied together in an overarching narrative? Eyewitnesses claimed that Smith never looked at notes, manuscripts, or books—he simply spoke the words of this American religious epic into existence. Judging the truth of this process is not Davis's interest. Rather, he reveals a kaleidoscope of practices and styles that converged around Smith's creation, with an emphasis on the evangelical preaching styles popularized by the renowned George Whitefield and John Wesley.

CES Letter

CES Letter
Author: Jeremy Runnells
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2017-04-17
Genre:
ISBN: 9780998869902

CES Letter is one Latter-Day Saint's honest quest to get official answers from the LDS Church (Mormon) on its troubling origins, history, and practices. Jeremy Runnells was offered an opportunity to discuss his own doubts with a director of the Church Educational System (CES) and was assured that his doubts could be resolved. After reading Jeremy's letter, the director promised him a response.No response ever came.

Visions of Glory

Visions of Glory
Author: John M. Pontius
Publisher: CFI
Total Pages:
Release:
Genre: RELIGION
ISBN: 9781462128433

Early Mormonism and the Magic World View

Early Mormonism and the Magic World View
Author: D. Michael Quinn
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1998
Genre: Latter Day Saint churches
ISBN: 9781560850892

In this articulate and insightful book, D. Michael Quinn reconstructs the world view of an earlier age in America, finding ample evidence for treasure seeking and folk magic in Joseph Smith's formative years. Folk magic was not unusual for the times and is important in understanding how Mormons may have interpreted developments. Quinn's impressive research provides a much-needed background for the environment that produced Mormonism's founding prophet.

Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith
Author: Richard Lyman Bushman
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 786
Release: 2007-03-13
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1400077532

Founder of the largest indigenous Christian church in American history, Joseph Smith published the 584-page Book of Mormon when he was twenty-three and went on to organize a church, found cities, and attract thousands of followers before his violent death at age thirty-eight. Richard Bushman, an esteemed cultural historian and a practicing Mormon, moves beyond the popular stereotype of Smith as a colorful fraud to explore his personality, his relationships with others, and how he received revelations. An arresting narrative of the birth of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling also brilliantly evaluates the prophet’s bold contributions to Christian theology and his cultural place in the modern world.

Stretching the Heavens

Stretching the Heavens
Author: Terryl L. Givens
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2021-07-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1469664348

Eugene England (1933-2001)—one of the most influential and controversial intellectuals in modern Mormonism—lived in the crossfire between religious tradition and reform. This first serious biography, by leading historian Terryl L. Givens, shimmers with the personal tensions felt deeply by England during the turmoil of the late twentieth century. Drawing on unprecedented access to England's personal papers, Givens paints a multifaceted portrait of a devout Latter-day Saint whose precarious position on the edge of church hierarchy was instrumental to his ability to shape the study of modern Mormonism. A professor of literature at Brigham Young University, England also taught in the Church Educational System. And yet from the sixties on, he set church leaders' teeth on edge as he protested the Vietnam War, decried institutional racism and sexism, and supported Poland's Solidarity movement—all at a time when Latter-day Saints were ultra-patriotic and banned Black ordination. England could also be intemperate, proud of his own rectitude, and neglectful of political realities and relationships, and he was eventually forced from his academic position. His last days, as he suffered from brain cancer, were marked by a spiritual agony that church leaders were unable to help him resolve.

How to Interpret Dreams and Visions

How to Interpret Dreams and Visions
Author: Perry F. Stone
Publisher: Charisma Media
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2011
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 161638350X

There is no question that every person will have a dream at one point or another. Some will even have visions. Bestselling author Stone answers readers questions regarding the symbolism of dreams and what they mean.

Joseph Smith's Seer Stones

Joseph Smith's Seer Stones
Author: Michael MacKay
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2016-09-05
Genre:
ISBN: 9781944394059

This book discusses the origins of Joseph Smith's three seer stones--the brown stone, the white stone, and the green stone, --as well as exploring how Joseph used them throughout his life in a way that goes beyond translating the Book of Mormon. It also traces the provenance of the three seer stones once they leave his possession. The authors also examine how the Book of Mormon itself provides a storyline about the history of seer stones, which also helped Joseph Smith learn about his own prophetic gifts. Finally, this book explores how Joseph Smith took his own experiences with seer stones and created a theology of seer stones that became closely linked with his unique doctrines of exaltation.